Panthers Pick Up WR Kelvin Benjamin’s Fifth-Year Option

The fifth-year option will run the Panthers around $8,459,000 for the 2018 season, according to Joel Corry, but is guaranteed only for injury and won’t prevent them from working on a long-term extension over the next year.

This should come as no surprise, considering that Panthers GM Dave Gettleman confirmed back in March that they were going to be exercising Benjamin’s option.

Benjamin, 26, is a former first-round pick of the Panthers back in 2014. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $7.66 million contract that includes $6.19 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $1 million to go along with a $465,125 roster bonus for the 2017 season.

In 2016, Benjamin appeared in all 16 games for the Panthers and caught 63 passes for 941 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 28 receiver out of 115 qualifying players.